OPENAXEL intends to open the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Europe by identifying the key stakeholders of the acceleration and the ICT industries as well as fostering coordinated involvement and smart cooperation among them. Additionally, OPENAXEL will detect best entrepreneurial European talent through two calls for projects to select the most promising 18 start-ups in Europe.

About OpenAxel

The first open acceleration platform at European level

OPENAXEL intends to open the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Europe by identifying the key stakeholders of the acceleration and the ICT industries as well as fostering coordinated involvement and smart cooperation among them. Additionally, OPENAXEL will detect best entrepreneurial European talent through two calls for projects to select the most promising 18 start-ups in Europe.

Background

Launched in October 2013 and funded within the Seventh Framework Programme of the EU, OPENAXEL is a 30-month project involving 8 partners (leading accelerators, institutional entities, and specialized innovation consulting firms) from 6 European countries and with huge international exposure. OPENAXEL is one of seven projects funded by the EU, under the EUHub (www.startupeuropehub.eu) umbrella, to support ICT companies in accelerating their business growth through internalisation and cross-border financing.

OPENAXEL intends to open the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Europe by identifying the key stakeholders of the acceleration and the ICT industries and fostering coordinated involvement and smart cooperation among them. It will consist of an interactive map that will provide a complete vision of the different acceleration services offered within Europe as well as information of start-ups and the main digital corporations within our network, to facilitate interaction and contact between them.

Additionally, OPENAXEL will detect best entrepreneurial European through two calls for projects to select the most promising 18 start-ups in Europe. After the success of the first contest, the second call will open from September 1st to October 31st 2015.

Among other contributions, winners will receive world class mentoring, a Business trip to Silicon Valley, coaching by top rated CEO´s and privileged visibility among the investors community.

The geo coverage is guaranteed through the project partners’ networks which have Accelerators Facilities in all the European States. Special attention will be devoted to less innovative ecosystems like Central Eastern Europe. Meanwhile international connections are also reinforced to attract foreign investment through international projection towards USA and LATAM.

We believe there is great potential to further develop the ICT start-ups with cross border collaboration at European level.